Is running becoming a trend in India?

From celebrities to the CEO’s, to the health ambassadors participating in the marathons year after year; from being a common man to a bio reading ‘runner, marathoner’; running is surely the next big thing in India. Movies on running like ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ have done exceptionally well on the blockbuster charts and lot of communities and enterprises are evolving around running.

It is a recreational and the most inexpensive form of sport and very popular among the large Indian masses, due to its accessibility and numerous health benefits. Our evolution has taken us from being a cave-man to a man on the couch; from physically active to the static lifestyle where we are increasingly getting prone to the dreadful diseases. But now we have learnt the importance of staying healthy and fit.

Running for a healthier lifestyle

As people are shifting towards healthier lifestyles to combat disease, running is taking on a whole new meaning and purpose for once sedentary people. Running helps in preventing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, few types of cancers and also maximizes the lung capacity. With the mantra of ‘one step in front of the other’, running is so simple and no matter what your age is and what you look like, you can run forever. Flexibility with respect to your day job or schedule also helps when taking up running. You can run on your own, with your friends, in a running club, after work, at lunch time or early on weekends.

Increasing popularity of marathons

Every year there are more and more running events adding to the running calendar owing to its growing popularity and as an initiative to promote running and health in India. It is been also used as a medium to raise funds and help in charity. Runners have graduated from attempting smaller distances such as 5K/ 10K to marathons to doing crazy ultra distances, testing their own endurance levels. Many Indians are qualifying for the international races such as Boston and New York marathons with their hard efforts.

Technology and the social media

Social media has also played a great role in promoting running in India and encouraging others to take up running. Runners posting their daily running miles and records of their respective run events on Facebook and Twitter have encouraged others to run more and break their own barriers. Adding more bling and technology to the sport for the competitive runners, there are many GPS running gadgets available like Garmins where you can record or analyze your splits, monitor heart rate, etc. A wide variety of shoes built on innovative technologies help to boost up your high performance and loads of training program information are available on the web to help you reach your goals, prevent injuries and find new routes to run.

I am a finisher

Running is the only sport where everyone’s a winner; where a runner races against his own time and challenges to better individual bests and create personal records. Unlike other sport, running felicitates all the finishers with the finishing medal. With the leading sports channels telecasting the popular races and the female participation rates growing in these events, running is definitely a trend for now and forever.